Combined transposition and automatic tracking device for player-pianos.



J. LEISOH. COMBINED TRANSPOSITION AND AUTOMATIC TRACKING- DEVIGE FOR PLAYER PIANOS1 APPLICATION FILED Nqv. 11, 1911.

1,062, 103, Patented May 20, 191 3.

Z SHEETSSHEBT 1.

J. LEISGH. COMBINED TRANSPOSITION AND AUTOMATIC TRACKING DEVICE FOR PLAYER PIANOS."

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11, 1911.

Patented May 20, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT onnron.

JOSEPH LEISCII. OF TRYON NORTH CAROLINA, A$I-3IGNOR TO THE JOHI; CHURCH COMPANY, OF ClNClNNATI,.OHIO, CORPQRATION OF OHIO.

COMBINED TRANSPOSTTION AUTOMATIC TRACKING DEVICE FOR PLAYER-PIANOS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 11, 1911. I Serial'No. 669,736.

To all whom it may concern: 2 r

. Be it known that I, J OSEPH LEISCH, a citi zen of the United States, and a resident of Tryon, in the county of Polk and State of North Carolina, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Transposition and Automatic'Tracking Device for Player-Pianos, of which the following is a full, clear,-and

exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. 1

-.The object of my invention is to provide a device for the tracker boards of player pianos to automatically maintain the registration of the slots in the music roll with the openings in the tracker board, so that as the music sheet is wound from the storage roll to the receiving roll during the operathis construction, the mechanism may *also be utilized for shifting the tracker board and 1 locking it. in its new position to transpose the key of the musical composition being performed, and inthis way my novel appa ratus is made to serve both as a transposition and as an-automatic tracking device.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved construction with the upper portion in section. Fig. 2 is a sectional detail of the release valve for the pneumatic for operating the tracking device. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3, 3. of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the tracker board and its connections. Fig. 5 is' a detail side elevation of the operating lever for the transposition device not shown in Fig. 1.

The framework for holding the operating I parts is represented by 1, 1, for the sides; 2

for the base; 3 for the topand 4 for the back. In the sides of the framework the storage roll 3 for the music sheet is jour naled, provided with end flanges f. The

receiving roll 7 isalso mounted in the sides of the frame and the music sheet is wound from the storage roll 5 to the receiving roll in any of the well known ways to carry the perforated musicsheet over the tracker board 8. provided with the tracker openings 9 connected to the tracker tubes 10 for releasing the pneumatics of the player piano as the perforations in the music sheetare propelled over the tracker openings.

The tracker, board 8 is provided with a tongue 11 which fits within the groove of the grooved bar12, the ends 13, 13, of which are loosely mounted in the sides of the frame, so as to slide therein. The tracker board is frictionally held in engagement with the grooved bar and thus supported in position.

On the upper surface of the tracker board 8 and the grooved bar 12, a series ofteeth 14, 15, are formed, with theteeth registering with each other, so that the two parts Patented May 20,

will' b held together by the outer wedgeshaped end 16 of the lever 17, which is pivotallymounted on a stud 18 on a support 19 from the frame. The lever 17 is mounted on the stud 18 so as to be capable of rocking with the stud as a pivot, and also so that the lever can be lifted off of the stud. The upper end of the lever 17 is pivotally con= nected to the bar 20, depending fromathe rod 21, the outer ends of which are connected respectively to the depending arms 22, 23, of a palr of hell crank levers, pivotally mounted at 24, 25, to the back of the frame. The horizontal arms 26. 27, of these bell crank levels are connected at their outerends to rods 28, 29, connected with themovable members 30. 31, ofa pair of power pneumatics 32. 38, which are mounted on top of the framework. These pneumatii-s are connected by the passageways 34, each with a chamber 36, 37. over a corresponding vacuum chamber 42, 43. In the base of each of these vacuum chambers is the pouch 38. 39, from which lead the tubes 40, 41, to opposite ends of the tracker board framework. The chambers 36, 37, are open and closed between the outer air and the vacuum chambers 42. 43, by the disk valves 44,- 45. which open and close the ports from the chambers 36. 37. while the buttons, on the stems of the disk valves 44, 45. rest upon the pounches 38, 39, so that when the pouches-are deflated. the passageways 34, 35, will be open to the outer air; and when the pneumatic tube 41 sheet, from 11,8 and the pouches are inflated, the disk valves 44,

subject the respective paswill be raised to sages to the influence of the vacuum.

Mounted between the tracker board 8-and .This b 49, 50, at either'end, and engaged and supported by passes. flanged collars these collars are 10 the inwardly projecting ends 51, 52, of the mounted on or integrally.

standards 53, 54C, .connected'y,with the bar 12, in which the w tracker board is mounted. For adjusting the length of the bar 48 for various Widths of 5 music sheets, I provide the ends of the bar 218 with a projecting pin 55, which engages in any one of a series of raised portions 56 on the sleeve 57 in which the end of the bar48 is mounted, so that by turning thebar and: 0 holding the collars on the ends, the distance betweenthe flanges 58, 59, may be adjusted. The ends 51, 52 of the supports have a sliding fit in the'outer ends of the'collars 49, 50,

. shifted.

and a passageway 60 connecting. withthe for'one end,and with the pneumatic tube for the other end, is formed in the supports 51, 52, with these passageways normally closed. by, their. re-

\ spective collars. .A very slight lateral move? 30 ment, however, of the bar 48 and the flanged collars in either direction will expose the corresponding opening 60* to open either' one of the pneumatic tubes 40 or 41. 7

Let us supposethat in winding the music the roll 5 to the storage roll 7 the sheet begins to move-toward the left as viewed in Fig. 1. Under these circumstances, t he flanged collars 50 and with it the bar 48 will be moved toward the left to 40 expose the right hand opening 60, and admit air to the tube 4-1. As heretofore described, this will inflate the pouch 39 and raise the valve disk 44' to actuate the power pneumatic 32, which will in turn rock the bell- 45 crank lever arm 22 to the right, shifting the inner'end of th lever 17 to the right and the locking bar 6 to the left, and thus moving thetracker board to the left to bring the tracker openings into register with the perforati-onsof the music sheet, which has commenced to shift to the left. In the same way, should the music sheet tend to travel in the opposite direction,

the opposite tube 10 will be open, nd the pneumatic 33 will 'be actuated to shift the tracker board in the opposite direction under the movement of the bell-crank lever 23, 27. It will be seen,

therefore, from the foregoing description,

that the tracking device will. be automatically operated to always maintain the proper alinement for, the perforated music sheetf In View of the fact that the tracker board supporting grooved bar 12 are in separate parts, and connected through the .65 bar 16, engaging 'inithe grooves between the tracker the right or left, so as to transpose the key raising up the bar 16 the; boar d can then be shifted either to actuatedby the perforations in the music sheet, and the bar 16 can then be dropped back into position to hold the tracker board and the' grooved bar in, fixed relation. order tobe enabled to thus transpose the key from outside the machine, I provide the rock shaft. 61, to which are secured an arm and link 62, one mounted on the rock shaft and theother connected with the lever 17,

and on the outer end of this rock shaft 61,

This

I'provide the operating handle 63.

Int handle 63 is mounted in the slotted coupling 64 on the end of the rock shaft 61 and held by the pin 67, so that the shaft can be rocked at thesame time the lever is swung laterally. Coupled to the operating handle 63, at 65, is a connecting rod 66, which is pivotally secured to the under surface of the tracker board 8 so that by swinging the lever 63, the tracker board can be correspondingly When the device is to be-used for trans 9 position, the lever handle 63 is raised, which rocks the shaft 61 and causes the toggle 62 to raise the lever 17 and disengage the tracker board and its supporting bar. Then byshifting the hand lever 63 laterally, the

tracker board may be moved so as to change i the key. The lever-17-andthe arm 16 are then returned to their normal position, locking the tracker board in its new position.

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim as new and desire to secure by Let-i t-ers Patent, is-

I1. In a device of the character specified, a tracker board adapted to be moved-laterally, a tracking bar laterally, acommon support for said board and bar, a power pneumatic controlled by the lateral movement of the tracking bar, and connecting mechanis m intermediate the power pneumatic and the trackenboard, whereby themovement of the tracking bar will automatically shift thetracker board.

2. In a device of the character specified, a tracker board adapted to be moved laterally, a tracking bar also adapted to be moved laterally, a common support for said board and bar, a pair of power pneumatics controlled respectively by the lateral movement of the tracking bar in opposite directions, and connecting mechanism intermediate the pneumatics and the tracker board, whereby the movement of the tracking bar will automatically shift the tracker board. in the same direction with the movement of the'tracking bar.

3. In a device of the character specified, a tracker board, and a laterally movable I support in which the board is mounted,'with F means for adgustably connecting the board also adapted to be moved and itsisupporga tracking bar also adapt- 13o ed to be moved laterally, supporting means therefor integral with the said movable support, a power pnenmatic controlled by the lateral movement of the tracking bar, and connecting mechanism intermed ate the power pneumatic and the tracker board whereby the-movement oi the tracking bar In a device of the character specified, a-

will automaticallyeliift the tracker board.

4. In a device of. the character specified,

a tracker board, and a' laterally. movable.

- tracking bar opposite directions, and con nect-ing mechanism intermediate the pneum'atics and the tracker board, whereby the movement of the trackin bar-will automatically shift the tracker. card in the. same direction with the movement of the tracking 1'); tracker board and a laterally movable support in which the board is adjustably mounted, alever bar common to the support and the tracker board for locking the two parts in adjusted position and for shifting automatically shift tracker board to correspond with the move:

power pneumatics controlled ing same laterally, a

same laterally, a tracking bar laterally movable, ,a power pneumatic controlled by the lateral movement of the tracking bar, and connecting mechanism intermediate the power pneumatic and the lever bar, whereby the movement of the tracking bar will the lever tomove the ment of the tracking bar.

6. In a device of the character specified, a tracker board and a laterally movable support in which the board is adjustably mounted, a lever bar common to the support and the tracker board for locking the two parts in adjusted position and for shifttracking bar laterally movable, a pair of. power pneumatics controlled respectively by the lateral'movement of the tracking bar in opposite directions, and connecting mechanism intermediate the pneu'matics' and the lever bar, whereby the movement of the tracking 'bar will automatically actuate the lever to shift the tracker board in the same direction with the movementof the tracking bar.

JOSEPH LEISClL Attest: MARs'roN' Arman, EARL \V. Grnrrm.

camel of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Peta,

, Washington, D. 0. V t 

